Southern Wedding Inspiration

One of our brides wants a truly southern wedding while using really neutral colors - whites and off whites, creams and tans. When I think about Georgia first I think about peaches, good southern homemade food (grits in particular)! It would be really fun to incorporate those things into a wedding day. You could use peaches as table place cards with the name and the table number pinned or tied to each peach. Or you could use them in your centerpieces too. I also love these little favors too - cute bags of grits - you could ONLY do that in the south! Our bride has also talked about using cotton in some of the details so we tried to pull in some ideas using cotton! Look at these cotton boutonnieres, so unique and very pretty! I really like these bridesmaids dresses, in particular the color. The great thing about off white bridesmaids dresses are that they look really fantastic in black and white pictures; they can look rustic and classic at the same time.

 

Homemade southern goodness includes jams - so if grits aren't really "doing it for you" what about having jam as your favors? This could be a big DIY project; put the jam in little mason jars and buy some fabric and cut out the fabric in little circles and tie it with a twine! Maybe we'll try to make some jam for ya'll sometime soon.

Another really great DIY project would be creating these chalkboard signs. You can buy chalkboard paint at your local hardware store. Then all you need is to find a rustic window frame or if you'd like it not so rustic looking, buy one at your favorite home good store. If you do not want to make it, check out Etsy, search "chalkboard" and you'll see more then enough options. The one on the left could easily be used as a weekly calendar; great for when your lives start getting crazy with multiple schedules to keep track of (6 squares use one as sat/sun day).

 

If you don't like the chalkboard look, you could try using glass! These woodsy flowers are so pretty, they look like someone could have just picked them in the wood earlier that day. Use flower boxes as table centerpieces; very cute and very easy to clean up (not that the bride and groom really have to worry about that).

This blog post focuses a lot on tents because our bride is having her reception outside under a tent. There are a lot of different styles and things you can do with tents. So the first picture we have is glam; tents do not have to be "outdoorsy" or "rustic" they can be glamorous by adding some glamorous details! The best detail, a chandelier. In the picture below (left) I love how the drapes all come to a center right at the chandelier and the cake is directly below. It draws your eyes into the exact place you want to focus on; this is a great idea for a cake person!

Another option is using lighting to dress up the "walls" and I'm not talking about Christmas lights. Look at how this couple decorated the tent with a pattern painted in light! The other picture is of some pompoms that are reality easy to make and can give a nice look to the tent and/or ceremony area.

 

Brown bottles are a nice contrast to use with some white or light pink flowers. If you are someone who wants to do your flowers yourself, I would ask you to please don't do it unless you really know what you're doing. Flowers are so particular, they have to be cut right, kept at a certain temperature etc. I have seen too many DIY flowers die start to brown and wilt before the ceremony begins. An alternative could be using already dried flowers; you don't have to worry about them dying and they do look really great! They probably also are a great deal cheaper! But if you're a serious flower person, make sure you budget to have what you want!

If you don't want to use flowers at all for your bouquet, look at this cotton bouquet, so unique and actually very pretty! It's a natural look and because it's white it's still very classic in a strange and beautiful way.

Love the tan socks and the tan shoes! Again if you want a more classic elegant look try using centerpieces like the one below (right). They are really simple and traditional.

Here's another look at chandeliers, but if you want something a little less glam try white Christmas lights. I personally really like the big bulb lights, particularly over the dance floor (see another picture 3 down). I think that it's nice to have the big blubs on the outside of the tent and then the Christmas white lights on the inside. Lights are one way to decorate and create a really romantic ambiance. A mix of lights and candles is the best, especially at night. If you are one of those brides who's not renting the area but having it in their backyard, I would recommend renting a dance floor. If you do not have a space for a dance floor and you are planning on just dancing on the grass, I promise you, the grass will be ruined by the end of the night. So to save your guests from grass stains, muddy feet, and possible rocks/sticks rent a dance floor.

Here's another way to decorate. The thing I like about the cream and the white lanterns is that it creates a romantic ambiance without distracting.

Mason jar lighting, have to say I'm loving this! If you have a handy man, you could try making your own. And if you did make them, you could definitely sell them afterwards or you could use them on your deck/porch and light it as a memory of the night you had your first dance under the stars!

So many details to think about! I hope this blog inspired you as much as it did me! 

I apologize I am going to try to collect all the places that I got these pictures, but the original blog post some how got completely deleted. But I didn't want to delay the post any longer, so check back for those details!

xoxo,

Melissa